Wednesday, February 29, 2012

In 1959 Frank Sinatra was at the top of his game.He’d recorded a series of hit albums (Come Fly With Me, Songs for Swinging Lovers,
In the Wee Small Hours) that remain among the best regarded in the American
musicsphere.In 1953 he had won an
Oscar for Best Actor and was redefining what it meant to be a Star in Vegas. It
was a time when as one card recalled, “Sinatra said 'cigarette'
and nine lighters came out."

In 1959 there was no bigger performing artist in the world.Sinatra,
accompanied by the Red Norvo Quintet
toured Down Under that year and while in Melbourne his show was put on
tape.Live in Australia 1959 was only released in 1997, the year before
he passed away but for fans has become an instant classic. In the words of the
gurus at All Music Guide, “Sinatra'sloose, swinging
performance is a startling revelation after years of being submerged in the Rat
Pack mythology. Even on his swing records from the late '50s, he never cut loose
quite as freely as he does here. Norvo's
quintet swings gracefully and Sinatra uses it as a cue
to deliver one of the wildest performances he has ever recorded.” (http://www.allmusic.com/album/live-in-australia-1959-r259426)

At the beginning of the set Red Norvo gushes about how much he really loves Melbourne (even
getting the pronunciation right). Sinatra, for his part, is very relaxed and is
obviously very happy, tossing snappy asides to an adoring audience.It was a real love fest and the album is
indeed a fantabulous one.

Fast forward 15 years to 1974. Sinatra has had a rough go in the 60s. The rock n’ roll he so scornfully dismissed is all the rage. The media seem more interested in his failed
marriages and links with the Mafia. Though he had some of his biggest hits
(cue, My Way) in the 60’s he was of
no interest to anybody but the middle aged and nostalgic.

In 1974 he’s back in Australia.And the proverbial fan is hit by the equally proverbial shit. No one is at
Melbourne airport to meet him. He has to break into his own press conference!
During his first show he’s displaying his not-so-charming side and takes a
couple stabs at the local journalistic fraternity. The men are ‘bums’ and the
female journalists are ‘a buck and half whores’.

Well!

No one is permitted to call Aussie shielas names except Aussie
men, thank you very much.The boozy,
philandering leader of the Union movement, one Bob Hawke, sends the word out to
his troops: Ol’ Blue Eyes gets no service until he apologizes to our women
folk.Frank lets Bob know he can fuck
off. “I never apologize,” he storms as he and his wife hang out in a hotel room.And there they stayed with nothing more than
some Jack Daniels. Room service didn’t answer. His private plane wouldn’t get
any fuel. He finally managed to sneak aboard a Qantas flight to Sydney but even there remained stuck in his hotel.At one
point, the historians tell us, thought was given to calling in the US Navy to
rescue him.The story is taken up by Shane Maloney.

Eventually, he agreed to
negotiate.

On 11 July, the two men met in Sinatra’s suite. Over four hours, an
agreement was hammered out. In return for a statement that Sinatra “did not intend any general reflection upon the moral
character of working members of the Australian media”, Hawke was prepared to green-light his remaining concerts.

Hawke, of course, went on to become one of our most loved raconteurs and
Prime Ministers. Sinatra went on with his life and never returned to the land
down under where he had given one of the performances of his life.

Chet Baker is the
trumpeter with the Little Boy Blue features and a horrific heroin habit. His
singing voice retained a vulnerable innocence throughout his career, endearing
him to so many fans. He teams up with Art Pepper another heroin grappler who
spent considerable time in and out of the American penal archipelago, including
a couple stints in San Quentin. (By the
by, speaking of the American penal archipelago: More Americans are under
‘correctional supervision’ at the current time then were imprisoned by Stalin
in the Gulags of the Soviet Union in its heyday! True.)

A couple of rough diamonds you’d think would never be able
to blow such wonderful music. But wow, this album swings sweet and low. The
interplay of trumpet and alto sax is seamless and one is left with the
impression that these are two old mates, perhaps identical twins who know
everything about the other.

Playboys is a
sweet, silly and silky. The sweetness resides in the non-stop swing and
melodies and the silk is the tone Pepper
gets on the alto and Baker on his
horn. Every lively plunge of the valves brings joy. The silliness comes on the
cover. An age of American innocence pin up of a model teasingly covering her
bosoms with two children’s hand puppets. Must have some oblique reference to
the wonderful opening track, For Minors
Only. Whatever, Hugh Hefner sued
when the album came out forcing a quick change to the cover and title.Luckily the CD reissue realigned the universe
with the original artwork.

Monday, February 27, 2012

Tonight’s featured artist achieved greatness as a
musician in Zambia in the 1970s and 1980s. But you could also mount the
argument that with a name like Smokey,
he was born to greatness. Born Edwin
Haakulipa Haangala, in 1950 in what appears to be a fairly well off family, he did the right thing by his parents. He completed high school and did well
enough to enter university where he studied for a career in Public
Administration and English. During these years he kept his love of the electric
guitar and music under control. But
things got worse as the years passed by. That damned guitar just wouldn’t stop
tempting him.

"If anything my greatest blow was when I could
not sit for my final examinations at the university and knowing fully well that
I had no one to blame, let alone myself. I was unreasonable to think that I
could be a musician and full-time student and still be successful both
ways," he half heartedly lamented in the mid 1970s when he was enjoying
some considerable success in Zambia for his sweet vocals and accordion infused kalindula music. And even though people
danced to his records and he got radio airplay he had to make a living which he
did by working for a while in the Civil Service and as a journalist.

His songs, sung in local Zambian languages like Tonga,
spoke out against social evils like witchcraft and promoted family and other positive values.Though he died at the age of 38 in 1988 his
niece, Lulu Haangala and brother, Swithin, continue to keep the family
name alive in the public arena. Swithin is
the owner of Zambezi FM radio station and Lulu something of a local celebrity.

This collection of songs comes from the fantastic
Zambia National Broadcasting Company (ZNBC) Zambian Legends Series.Smokey’s
voice is mellifluousand his guitar
picking (both electric and acoustic) energetic but not flashy.What I particularly appreciate is the
wonderful blending in of the accordion and electric organ and even what sounds
like a harmonium in some cuts. And let
us not overlook his whistling too! Another excellent slice of Zambia which
deserves a much wider audience.

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Yesterday was George Harrison’s birthday. If he were
alive he would be 69 years old. I
recently saw Martin Scorcese’s Harrison
bio-pic, Living in the Material World,
which had nary a dull moment in the entire three and half hours. As a kid I thought George to be the most handsome Beatle. His chiseled features, full moustache and
long hair reminded me of my eldest brother and it was a look I tried to emulate
for (too) many years. But beyond his
good looks I had little appreciation for him as a musician and man. By the end of the film I was deeply impressed
not just with his ace guitar playing but his spirituality, which he approached
with seriousness and good humor, and his catholic interests. Everything from Formula 1 to filmmaking, to
gardening and Monty Python.

In honor of the Quiet Beatle
I post two albums that reflect two different sides of his personality.

When the producers of Monty
Python’s Life of Brian pulled out of
the project at the final moment, George
Harrison came to the rescue, mortgaged his house and started a long and
successful career as a film producer. He loved the Python’s and before them, he
and his Beatle mates were pally with the Bonzo
Dog Doo Dah Band,the musical equivalent of the Pythons.

Besides, perhaps, the Mothers of Invention(with whom they were sometimes
compared), the Bonzo Dog Band
were the most successful group to combine rock music and comedy. Starting off
as the Bonzo Dog Dada Band, then becoming the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band,
and then finally just the Bonzo Dog Band,
the group was started by British art college students in the mid-'60s.
Initially they were inclined toward trad jazz and vaudevillian routines, but by
the time of their 1967 debut album, they were leaning further in pop and rock
directions. A brief appearance in the
Beatles' Magical Mystery
Tour film bolstered their visibility, and Paul McCartney (under the pseudonym Apollo C. Vermouth) produced their single "I'm the
Urban Spaceman," which reached the British Top Five in 1968. The Bonzosreally hit their stride with their second and third albums, which found
them adding elements of psychedelia to their already-absurdist mix of pop,
cabaret, and Dada. The Bonzos could be
side-splitting, but their records held up well because they were also capable
musicians and songwriters, paced by Neil
Innes and Viv Stanshall (both of whom wrote the lion's share of
their best material). The group attempted to move into more serious and musical
realms with their 1969 LP Keynsham,
which, unsurprisingly, was acclaimed as their weakest effort. They broke up
shortly afterward; Viv Stanshallmade some obscure solo recordings (he was
also the grandstanding narrator on Mike Oldfield's "Tubular Bells"). Neil
Innes collaborated with members of Monty
Python, upon whom the Bonzos
were a large influence, as well as writing the songs for and performing in the Beatles
documentary spoof, The Rutles. (AMG)

This
collection includes many (not all, sadly) of their best sides and from the
opening track to the end you’ll be guffawing, smiling and snickering.My faves: Shirt,
Intro and Outro, Hunting Tigers Out in INDIAH and Can
Blue Men Sing the Whites? But so many great songs here.

George Harrison’s life long commitment to Hindu
philosophy and mystical practice is honored by a collection of Krishna bhajans by the Malayali singer K.S. Chitra.Born on July 27, 1963, in Thiruvananthapuram,
Kerala, into a family of musicians, Chitra’s
talent was recognized and nurtured from an early age by her father, the late Krishnan Nair. He was also her first guru
(teacher). Her elder sister K. S. Beena
is also a singer who has performed in many films as a playback singer.

Chitra
received her extensive training in Carnatic music from Dr. K. Omanakutty, and got a Masters in
Music from the University of
Kerala.She was selected for the
National Talent Search Scholarship from the Central Government from 1978–1984.

Chitra has
enjoyed a strong career as a playback singer in South Indian films but is
equally recognized for her devotional and classical repertoire. This record is
from a live concert and gives an excellent demonstration of her beautiful
vocals.